


Bloom in December

by neonkuro



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Love Confessions, Soulmates, i dont know what im doing ; this is so cheesy but bear with me pls ;, squint VERY hard for michaeng, theyre both only children in this fic;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22015882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neonkuro/pseuds/neonkuro
Summary: Thirteen years had passed from the last time Momo saw Minatozaki Sana waving at her from her parents' car, but she couldn't stop thinking about her. It only worsened when Sana's name appeared on her left wrist when Momo was sixteen.Until on a very familiar porch, a very familiar face showed up.
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Minatozaki Sana
Comments: 10
Kudos: 110





	Bloom in December

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Sana and happy onceversary to me. Enjoy.

_“My mommy says this rose only blooms in December!”_

_It was the 29th day of a cold December, many years ago. The little Momo was listening, with her big eyes wide open, the stories her friend Sana was telling, the both of them laid on the warm and clean carpet in her living room. The room was still festooned with Christmas decorations and smelled like cookies, soap, and serenity. The only sounds came from the dying fire in the chimney as their parents already went to bed. Their families were close from a long time, but living in different cities they got to see each other only during the holidays, and those were the most precious moments for them. Especially when it was Sana’s birthday. Year after year the kids celebrated it together, playing in Sana’s big house, doing nearly everything side by side, from eating to bathing to sleeping, as if they were one._

_Right now, Sana was holding tight the shiba plushie Momo gave her as a gift, while pointing at a very specific decoration hung on the Christmas tree._

_"That white rose with the glitter! Mommy always says she bought it a few days before I was born, because she thought it was as beautiful as me. I don’t really get what she means thought, if I still wasn’t born how did she know I was beautiful? Duh. But I like it a lot so mommy lets me put it on the tree every year.” Sana said, standing with a proud smile, and Momo clapped at her in awe._

_“Wooow! I’d like to have a rose so beautiful too…” Momo stared at the beautiful decoration, which was right in the middle of the tree. Rolling on the carpet she stood too next to Sana, looking closely at the object._

_"I would give you mine… but it’s mine! Sorry Momoring!” Sana joked, laughing. Momo’s finger touched the rose and a bit of glitter stuck on it. “Look, now you have glitter on your finger!”_

_The two laughed heartily, but soon they gestured to each other to lower their voices because their parents had said to keep it low. Right after they were on the carpet again, wrapping themselves in the big blanket they shared, staying close to each other._

_"Sana, let’s go on a secret mission!” Momo whispered in Sana’s ear. The girl nodded and asked which mission._

_"Let’s go to the kitchen and take cookies, but without making noises.”_

_"Yaaay! Secret mission!”_

* * *

"There’s a rose that only… uh.”

In the silence of her apartment, Momo woke up because of a burning sensation on her skin. She had fallen asleep on her couch after taking out the decorations for Christmas, and like every year, seeing the stemless white rose brought her lots of memories. She didn’t expect to fall asleep in the coziness of the room, though. Groaning, Momo brushed her thumb on the skin, trying to soothe it as she did since she turned sixteen.Thirteen years had passed from the last time she had met Sana. Her family had moved to Korea when they were ten because of her father’s job, and hadn’t seen each other since. She still remembered Sana giving her that rose as a parting gift, saying that Momo had to give the rose back when they would meet again.

It never happened.

For the following two years, they would call each other, Sana talking to Momo about her new life, Momo to Sana about her very unchanging one. But life took its detours for the both of them, and the calls stopped.

She sighed, a veil of melancholy falling on the room. Surely Momo had her life. Friends, a rising career in dancing, love interests. But she _just couldn’t_ stop thinking about Sana. Especially in December, and especially since her name wrote itself on her wrist when Momo was sixteen.

The world worked like that. Somewhere in between the ages of fifteen and twenty-three, a name would appear on the skin of the majority of the people. The name of their soulmate.

Momo thought it was a joke when she had read the name _Sana_ on her wrist. But it wasn’t. It was real, burning, demanding Momo to find her soulmate.

But how could she find a person belonging to her past? All she had left about Minatozaki Sana was her rose. The rose that only bloomed in December.

* * *

The afternoons were freezing cold those days. Momo tightened the scarf around her neck, lifting it up to cover her nose. She could smell in the air the upcoming snowfall, as the sky was totally white and compact-looking. Walking beside her, Myoui Mina was silently observing her body language. She have been knowing Momo for years now and the girl always became so restless whenever December would come. Mina only suspected it had to do with Momo’s soulmate, as her friend never talked about her. She had always respected Momo’s space, but couldn’t keep herself from wondering.

"It’s freaking cold today. I can even feel my brain cells freezing.” Momo suddenly said, in an attempt of breaking that uncomfortable silence. She knew very well that being quiet most of the time was one of Mina’s traits, but also knew that it wasn’t the right time to clamp herself up in her thoughts because of it.

“I’m totally in for something warm to drink if you want to go somewhere.” Mina replied, gesturing with her head onwards.

"Deal.”

Entering a random café, they both ordered hot chocolate and found a table in the far corner, sitting in the warmth of the place and the general silence, aside from the faint sound coming from a radio’s speaker.

“Momori.” Mina tried to catch her attention when she started fiddling with her bag’s zipper. Momo looked up, staring at her best friend’s face. Mina was definitely studying her. It wasn’t news. “What’s on your mind lately?”

Momo hummed. She wondered if telling a lie would do, but Mina would just see right through it. The truth was her only option, but was she really ready to talk about her worries? Her eyes wandered out the window, grazing the sight of a kid riding a bike outside, anywhere near Mina’s gaze.

"It’s December.” She simply replied, coming back to fiddle with the zipper.

"Yeah, I know. December always has this effect on you.”

Mina pondered if it was time, if Momo was ready to talk about anything that was bothering her. But even if she wasn’t, Mina didn’t want to leave her brood for the rest of the month.

“May I ask you a question?” Mina looked sincerely concerned, not that Momo expected anything less from her best friend.

“You know you can ask me anything, Minarin.”

They both thanked the waitress who brought them the hot chocolates, and waited for her to leave before resuming their talk. Momo stirred the drink with her spoon, waiting for it to cool a bit before starting drinking.

Mina pursed her lips before asking the only question Momo hoped she would never ask.

"Is it because of your soulmate?”

Momo closed her eyes. The mark on her skin started burning again, making her wince, always remembering her that it existed and would always exist. Momo sighed, a pained expression appearing on her face that she couldn’t contain.

"Sana.”

That choked sound left her mouth. Her thumb instinctively flew to soothe those letters on her wrist. A name so dear, and so damned.

“My soulmate, Sana. She was born in December.”

_As I imagined,_ Mina thought. She waited patiently for Momo to keep talking, taking a sip of her chocolate. Her friend didn’t look so well all of a sudden. Mina put down her cup, extending an hand for Momo to hold on. Momo caught the hint and took it.

"I never really talked about her.”

"I know.”

Waiting a bit to collect her thoughts, Momo soon started telling Mina about her and Sana’s old friendship, how strong it was and how she could remember it so clearly. How she could forget moments but not feelings. Momo told Mina about their adventures, the feeling of having a friend, even if just for few days per year. Every time they would meet again something was different, like the height or the hairstyle, and they would remember and point it out. The only thing which never ever changed was their bond.

"When I think about Sana I have this familiarity feeling.” Momo scratched lightly her head. “She was so outgoing, so hyper as a child. You know very well how awkward feel around people, how my shyness usually gets in the way. I was the same as a kid, but Sana and I knew each other ever since we were born. I never felt awkward around her.”

Momo’s grip on Mina’s hand tightened. Once you talk about something is like making it finally real, and putting an end on the denial of her fears was the hardest thing Momo had to face in a while.

"Children move on easier from friendships compared to adults, but they never forget them, I think. Life changes, we change, it’s natural. But I… I always felt like I’ve never really moved on from Sana. Like I’m still the ten years old Momo who is watching Sana get on her car and waving at her from the glass for the last time. Like my life is going on but I’m just watching it doing so, while just sitting there and waiting for her. This became even worse when my soulmark showed up.”

Momo finally took a sip of her chocolate, the sweet taste flooding down her mouth, relieving a bit the lump in her throat, but not enough to let her voice come out without faltering.

"When her name appeared on my skin I thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t. I tried to deceive myself into thinking it wasn’t her, that it was another Sana, because Japan is full of girls named Sana. But I know deep down, that’s her. I can’t lie to myself like that.”

How cruel it was, living in a universe when someone meant for you could be lost so easily, without any possibility to move on, because your soul is bound to them forever.

"Sana moved to Korea when we were ten. I never saw her again. We used to call each other, but then I became too busy with school and dancing and the few times I heard from her it was so brief, never enough. She was busy, too, learning how to speak well korean and studying as an actress. That was a dream she told me about so many times, so I was happy for her. But we parted ways for good soon after.”

Momo stopped talking to breathe, having not noticed until then how she was holding it. The look of distress on her face was so clear, it was an heavy matter she was talking about.

Mina got why Momo always became so lost in thought during December. She could only imagine the pain of being separated for that long from a soulmate, having been lucky with her Chaeyoung. Her grip on Momo’s hand tightened and she started brushing her thumb on it in an attempt to reassure her.

"Have you tried looking for her, somehow? Didn’t you have her house phone number?” Mina asked, but if Momo hadn’t already tried…

“It’s… it’s not the same anymore. I tried, a while ago… their phone number resulted nonexistent. My parents don’t have her parents’ cellphone numbers anymore. My mom even got angry when I asked her… something must have happened between them but they never told me about it. So yeah… I haven’t got a single chance. Cruel, huh?”

“How about social networks?”

"I just found an old account with her name on but it’s from when she was thirteen or something like that… is inactive now.”

“I see…”

Every failure discouraged Momo more and more. Without a clue on how to find Sana, her hopes sinked in that sea of helplessness. She freed her hand from Mina’s grip and caught a stray tear wandering down her cheek. Her vision slowly, increasingly blurred, until she broke in a small sob, only one, but full of all its possible meanings.

"I am scared, Mina. What if I never see her again? And if I see her, what if she’s not the same Sana anymore? And what if she has another name on her skin, one that isn’t mine?”

To her sadness, her fears added one by one. It was hard not to love her idea of the present Sana, a similar, but much older and mature, version of her friend. A mix of memories and imagination.

Moreover, soulmates could be not exclusive. You could have a name on you but that person could have another one, so the bond could be unmatched, unilateral. It was rare but it happened, and it’s common thought that people with an unmatched mark fell mentally ill because of the unrequited love. And soulmates love was visceral. Momo couldn’t even think about this possibility.

She uncovered her wrist, letting Mina’s eyes run on the ideograms.

"I’m basically in love with a stranger because of my instincts. I long for someone I don’t know anymore because of them. Because of this mark on my skin. Because my soul is bound to Sana’s. Yet Sana isn’t here and she likely will never be.” Momo’s feeble voice opened a crack in Mina’s heart. Feeling her best friend’s sadness was a lot to bear, since Mina couldn’t really do anything for her beside staying by her side.

Momo’s head landed on her own arms on the table, her back hunched, hiding her face from her best friend and from the rest of the world. She stayed like that for a while, hidden into her inner world, Mina’s hand squeezing her shoulder being the only contact with reality.

* * *

The snow muffled every footstep. Momo’s boots left footprints behind that, if followed, brought to a very specific place.

The outside of Sana’s old house was exactly as she remembered. The place was now empty, as the people who came after Sana’s family left too. A huge sign outside the fence said _on sale._

_I’d buy this place myself if I could._

Maybe coming here had been a bad decision, but Momo reached the point in which her nostalgia was eating her alive. She thought everything related to Sana could soothe it a bit, but what if this only made it worse?

Crossing the alley, Momo sat on the stairs outside the porch, contemplating the snow falling gently on the ground. This year there hadn’t been any heavy snowfall, as if the weather decided to be delicate to adapt to Momo’s mood. It was almost soothing, the way the snowflakes fell without a sound. She would have appreciated it more if Sana was there, though.

But Sana wasn’t.

Covering her nose with her scarf, Momo lost herself into her maze of memories again. Some were so vivid, as if everything she lived with Sana happened just yesterday. But almost thirteen years had passed.

“I’m so miserable.” Momo whispered to anyone in particular. “Why can’t I free myself from all of this?”

Then her soulmark started to burn again.

“That’s why. Stop, for fuck’s sake.”

That constant reminder couldn’t do anything but hurt her in every way. Her thumb flew to soothe it, an almost automatic gesture by now. Her fingers knew by heart Sana’s name, she thought.

When the ache subsided a bit, Momo sighed and leaned her head on her hand. Her heart felt so heavy. She wanted to relieve a bit that weight, and if that would take talking to her ghosts, then she’d do it.

But maybe not today. Today wasn’t the right moment.

Her hand looked for the white rose in her pocket and took it. She had brought it with her, to the place it belonged to. Through the years the rose had lost a lot of glitter and what remained where just a few silver sprinkles here and there, letting out the white underneath. She touched its smooth petals, for being a fake it had a nice texture anyway.

“The rose that only blooms in December…” Momo muttered. “Are you really that rose?”

Obviously, the rose couldn’t reply.

* * *

Day after day, Momo became more and more restless. Her visits to the house became more and more frequent. She noticed the _on sale_ sign had been removed, so probably another family had bought it.

_I wonder if this house will be a special place to someone else too._

Momo began watching from a distance, truck after truck which brought all kinds of furniture. Someone was definitely moving in. The house already seemed a bit more lively. She wondered who was going to live there, hoping they would treat the place nicely. She didn’t sit outside the porch anymore, though.

On the 28th of the month Momo decided, that would be the last time she went there. The trucks stopped coming, so whoever was moving in was finished with it. Good. It was nice knowing that the house wasn’t left abandoned, but knowing she would never have the occasion to get in again made her sad.

Momo got closer, casually strolling through the alleyway. The lights were on inside the place. An idea came to her mind, maybe she shouldn’t risk it like that, but she dashed to sit on the stairs anyway. One more time, one last time.

It was so weird. How Momo kept going there even if she wouldn’t find anything aside than sorrow. She felt incredibly stupid, chasing behind an ingenuous hope. There wasn’t a road that brought to Sana.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I guess I really,can’t do anything.” Momo muttered. The rose was tightly clutched in her hand, maybe her grip would end up destroying it, but Momo didn’t care at all. It was just a stupid rose, it wasn’t Sana, it was just something that once belonged to Sana.

“Get out of your fantasy, Momo.” She said bitterly, slapping her own cheek a bit.

Being harsh to herself maybe was a way for Momo to wake up, who knows. She had to create a crack between her heart and her fantasy. Reality was there and Momo couldn’t ignore it. She had to face the fear that Sana was a dream from the past by then.

Momo closed her eyes and inhaled, letting herself feel, not pushing any emotion away. She let herself feel happy from all the memories, hurt from the distance, desperate for her longing. Sana’s foggy image danced before her eyelids, waving at her from afar. Her name was forever marked on Momo’s skin, and Momo would keep her life going anyway, locking all the pain she felt inside a precious, delicate box.

Moving on.

A single snowflake swirled gently in the air, falling right on Momo’s nose, while she silently cried, letting it all out, letting everything go.

After a while, the front door opened. Momo didn’t notice, otherwise she would jolt and immediately apologize to the owners for invading their space. Instead she didn’t hear it at all, nor the padding of slippers getting closer.

"Excuse me… may I help you? I saw you from the window…” A soft voice asked interrupting her train of thoughts, making Momo’s little bubble burst into a million particles. The latter jumped up, turning her body to the stranger who just spoke.

“I’m so sorry! I’m… I…” Momo began, her breath ragged, her heart running a mile a minute. She hoped the girl who showed up wouldn’t get angry because of her invasion.

"Oh no, it’s fine. Did you need a spot to sit on for a bit? Here, let me turn the lights on…”

The girl had the most sweet and melodic voice Momo had ever heard, and from her accent she probably was from Osaka. Momo heard a click and the lights went on, so the two could see each other well.

"Oh, you’re taller than you seemed… wait, are you crying? You’re eyes are so puffy!”

The girl got close to Momo, who looked at her completely taken aback. She had long, pastel pink hair, was just a bit taller than her, and was dressed in a soft-looking knitted cyan cardigan and pajama pants. So pretty, Momo couldn’t help but stare at her a bit, her mouth a bit hung open. She tried to say something, but just nonsense came out from her mouth. She felt something in her stomach swirl terribly, various sensations wash over her, her senses peaking. The soulmark started burning like hell, like never before.

The other girl noticed that something was off with Momo, and inspected her face closely, squinting a pair of hazel eyes hidden behind round glasses. Her expression slowly switched from perplexed to curious, as if she was trying to understand something about the black haired girl.

In the meanwhile, Momo’s instincts were screaming a well-known, beloved name. But this girl _couldn’t_ be her, could she?

The girl’s face lightened up a bit, her cheeks becoming a bit rosy.

“We know each other, don’t we?”

That single question stopped time. In a second everything inside Momo shattered itself, falling apart in a million pieces and finally getting back together. It was like fate had made a bet with Momo a long time ago, to see how much she could bear before breaking, taking away something so dearly beloved, just to give it back to her when she was about to collapse.

Momo raised her arm and opened her hand, which was still clutching the rose, and presented it before the pink haired girl, who she was sure, was Sana. Her Sana.

"I brought it back… your rose. I…” Momo managed to spill, not believing a word of what she was saying. Momo imagined that moment so many times. It was so surreal, she couldn’t even react properly.

Her mind expected the girl to say that Momo was wrong, that her name wasn’t Sana, but Momo’s memory recognized her eyes and Momo’s heart recognized her warmth.

Most of all, maybe her soul recognized its soulmate.

"That rose…” Sana began, a smile starting to spread on her face. She brought her hands to cup Momo’s, slightly touching the rose’s petals. “The christmas decoration… the rose my mom bought before I was born…”

"The rose your mother bought because she thought it was as beautiful as you.” Momo quoted what Sana has said that many years earlier. The feeling of Sana’s hands on hers was making her legs wobble and her voice waver. Sana nodded. There was just one person who could remember those words.

"I left this rose to a really dear friend, a lot of time ago, making her promise that she would have to give it back to me.” Sana whispered, not managing to hide her now huge smile. “I haven’t seen her since then. I’ve been wondering how she was doing for years now. I’d never imagine…”

Sana’s voice broke, her eyes fixated on Momo’s, who couldn't say a word.

“I’d never imagine I would get to see you again, Momoring…”

That was the last call. Momo couldn’t contain herself, she hugged Sana the tighter she could, engulfing her body in the warmth of her coat. She felt Sana’s arms slide around her waist, her head hiding into her shoulder, holding on her for dear life.

"Sana.”

Sweet like an honeydrop Sana’s name rolled down Momo’s tongue. She didn’t feel the cold outside anymore.

“I’ve been thinking about you all of these years now, I… I…” Momo stuttered, still not processing what was happening. So much suffering and now Sana was just before her, real and tangible, not just a ghost from her mind.

"I… I too. Momo, let’s get in, let’s talk, I want to know... I need to know everything about you. I need it.”

* * *

Even if the furniture was completely different, like the color on the walls, Momo felt the same strong sensation of familiarity from her childhood. The house was warm and the lights soft, and she could bet Sana had almost perfectly recreated the same disposition the rooms had when she was a kid.

Momo was sat on the couch in the living room. Her eyes fell on the christmas tree placed near the big television. She still had the rose. What if…

Sana came back from the kitchen with two steamy mugs of tea, passing one to Momo and sitting beside her, her body turned to her friend. The contrast between the coldness of her hands and the warmth from the mug was pleasant.

The two of them just couldn’t stop looking at each other and smile as if they had just found a long lost treasure. Maybe because it was true.

"We’ve grown up so much. The last time I saw you, we still had the same haircut. Do you remember?” Sana touched Momo’s long hair, feeling the smooth texture under her fingers. Momo blushed a bit.

“Yeah… people mistook us as twins. Same age, same height, same haircut. It was funny.” Momo chuckled, blowing lightly on her tea. “But now you’re taller than me. What’s this sorcery? It’s unfair.”

"Hey, I’m sure I’m just one centimeter taller than you. Don’t complain!” Sana joked, her voice reaching an higher pitch that Momo remembered very well. She was pleased that Sana’s hyper side was still there.

"It’s unfair anyway. I’m the older here.”

“Yeah, not even two months older.”

"Ew, shut up.”

The two laughed heartily. It was hard to believe so much time had passed. It seemed like nothing changed between them. Momo even forgot the ache from her soulmark, completely focused on the girl she was knowing for a second time.

They basically spended the whole evening talking. Sana asked Momo about her life, if she still danced, if she made friends along the way. Momo too asked Sana about her life in Korea, how much different is compared to living in Japan, where she lived and if it was a nice place. Minutes, hours passed by. They told each other stories, funny ones, sad ones, the stories about school and their practices. Sharing their whole life made their bond come back stronger than ever.

Momo eventually find the guts to ask Sana that very important question, one of the two questions that were bugging her ever since she recognized Sana on the porch.

“Sana… why did you came back here?” Momo asked carefully, playing with her own hair. “You’ve been studying as an actress in Korea. I thought you would stay there.”

Sana bit her lip. Her hand automatically looked for Momo’s, holding it tight. She took a deep breath.

"I’ve been offered to star in a drama, here in Japan.” Sana smiled fondly, even if her eyes told another story. “That’s why I dyed my hair pink, my role requires it.”

Momo’s face lightened up. “But that's amazing, it is your first role, right? Here in Japan!”

She was so happy Sana got to realize her dream, and in her home country, too. But why was she sensing something was off?

That’s not the only reason why I came back, Momoring.”

Sana got up, leaving Momo alone, confused, in the living room, with her empty mug. Momo placed it on a little table beside the couch, crossing her legs and waiting silently. What did Sana mean with that affirmation?

After a while Sana came back, with a blanket in an hand and a… pajama? In the other.

"Like the old times?” Sana pleaded, extending the pajama to Momo, who immediately caught the drift.

"Sure.”

After changing clothes in the bathroom, Momo went back to the living room, where Sana had wrapped her big blanket around herself, sitting on the carpet.

_This indeed brings back memories,_ Momo thought. Maybe she secretly looked forward to something like that.

"Momoring.” Sana called, raising her arm, prompting Momo to sit beside her, which she did.

Sana covered the both of them up, until they were completely hidden by the blanket. She giggled, getting very close to Momo, which gulped.

"Our safe space. Here nobody could disturb us.” Sana whispered, sending shivers down Momo’s spine. “We told each other so many secrets under a blanket.”

Momo nodded. They were close enough for her to feel Sana’s body warmth.

"Tell me… Sana, I want to know. Tell me the reason why you’re back.”

Closing her eyes, Sana leaned her head on Momo’s shoulder, humming softly. It was as if that spot was made for her, since she apparently liked it so much. Not that Momo complained.

“I fought with my mom.”

There was a pause, just a few seconds, but enough for Momo to understand the importance of what Sana was about to say.

“You know… a few years ago, my mom received a call. From your mother.”

"My mom?”

“Yes. I didn’t know the reason until a while ago but they fought furiously back then, I even heard my mother shout, which she usually never does. After the fight she didn’t say anything aside of _I never want to see an Hirai again._ I tried asking what happened but she didn’t reply to any question.”

Sana took Momo’s hand in hers again. She seemed to like so much the physical contact that Momo brought it forward and wrapped an arm around her waist, a much appreciated gesture by the younger girl, who shuffled even closer to her.

“My mom never said anything about a fight with your mom, but I’ve been knowing something must have happened. Now I get why my parents deleted your phone numbers and your address.”

"Your mom never talked about it with you?”

“No…”

“As I thought. Well… I asked myself a lot of questions but I couldn’t find an answer. I had no idea of why they bickered, just felt it was an heavy matter. And I constantly wondered how you were doing. My life went on but it always felt like something important was missing. I couldn’t contact you in any way. My mom too deleted your phone numbers and I didn’t really have one saved.”

Shifting her legs, Momo brought them under her chin. So Sana too didn’t know how to contact her.

"When I was offered to film a drama here in Japan I talked about it with my family. I was so excited, my first role, my dream coming true. But my mom got angry… told me to refuse. That we had enough money and I didn’t have to start working yet. But I really, really wanted to. It was my life, my career. So I insisted, until my mom spilt out the reason. She didn’t want me to come back here.”

Sana’s tone became way more serious and Momo’s breathing stopped. Her heart started beating fast. She didn’t have a good feeling about it.

“Your mom saw your soulmark.”

Momo jolted terribly, startling Sana too. She inhaled sharply, suddenly gasping for air.

"Wh- what do you mean _she saw it_? I’ve always- I’ve kept it hidden for years!”

“Momo… Momo, calm down. She saw it and I think she was happy about it, because she called my mother and told her. Yes, there it was the possibility that your Sana was another Sana, but why,not taking in consideration me, since we’ve already been knowing each other for the longest time? But my mom didn’t take it well.”

Fiddling with the edge of the blanket, Sana gulped before telling the rest of the story.

"She said she didn’t want me bound to a girl. She implied wanting me to find some rich husband. I was so shocked that it took me a whole minute to process what I had just heard.”

Sensing the effect her story was causing to the other,Sana went to hug Momo, who was downright dying in shame, her face completely red and her eyes teary. What could Momo ever say in front of such a situation? Sana knew, her family knew and didn’t like it. She felt like having destroyed everything with her own hands, despite having tried so desperately to hid Sana’s name on her wrist from her parents. She felt not worthy of being in Sana’s embrace right now. The latter wasn’t on the same page though.

"I got mad at her, I yelled so much. She couldn’t decide my future for me, who was meant for me. I took a decision. Against every will of hers I moved back here, for my job but mostly because I wanted to find you, even if your name isn’t written on my skin. My Momoring. I bought again this house just to be closer to you.”

Hearing those words whispered in her ear caused Momo to finally let out the last tears. That was a lot to process. All those years the two of them spent completely apart because her soul was bound to Sana’s and the Minatozaki family had cut every tie with the Hirais because of it. She wanted to slap herself, even if she wasn’t really guilty and deep down, she knew it.

"I-I should have hidden it better… if I just…”

“No, Momoring. It isn’t your fault. It’s just my mom’s. She has to understand that if you’re destiny is tied to mine, then so be it. She can’t do anything to stop it.”

Sana didn’t loosen her grip even a second for what seemed hours. Her hands caressed Momo’s back, whose burden was finally relieving bit by bit. Falling apart wasn’t too bad, because Sana was there to keep her together. Sana, who came back for her too.

* * *

“You said that you haven’t my name on your skin… do you have another one…?” Momo asked when she managed to calm down. The two of them were once again sitting on the couch. It was pretty late, they realized. The clock on the wall said _23:32._

Sana looked like hesitating a bit. That question had hit close to home for her. She fiddled with her fingers, not looking at the older in the eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. So she got up, and did something Momo would never, ever expect.

She started to strip.

“Sana…?” Momo asked, feebly, confusion written on her face. “What are you…”

Sana didn’t say a word. She didn’t stop until her cardigan and pajama were dropped on the floor and all that was left on her was her underwear. Momo let out a choked sound, her eyes dropping immediately on the floor and her cheeks becoming rosy, not understanding why her soulmate was stripping before her with that really serious expression on her face.

“Look at me.” Sana said firmly. “Momo, look at me.”

“Why…?”

"I don’t have a soulmark. Anywhere.”

“What?”

A really sad expression appeared on Sana’s face. Momo took all her courage and looked at Sana’s body. The girl was right. She even turned around to let Momo see her back. No soulmark.

“I guess I’m one of the unlucky people. You know that soulmarks only show up in the time span between fifteen and twenty-three years old. And my time span is about to end. I’ll be twenty-three in a few minutes.”

Momo got up too, not knowing what to say. So Sana wasn’t bound to her, but wasn’t bound to anyone else either. It was cruel.

"I... I don’t want it to be unilateral, Momoring. I would like to love you as much as you would love me. But if a mark doesn’t connect me to you, I…”

Sana fell silent again, another pause that was full of fear and meanings. In that moment Momo realized, that she didn’t like Sana just because of a mark. No.

She liked Sana for whole other reasons.

"I don’t care.”

Momo took the blanket from the couch and wrapped it around Sana, covering her up, keeping her warm. Sana was speechless. Other people would just freak out and get angry, maybe furious, but Momo just… didn’t.

"I’ve decided I don’t care if you don’t have my name on you, if your soul doesn’t vibrate when near to mine, if you don’t feel tied to me, if you don’t _need_ to be with me. _I_ feel happy near _you,_ and that’s all I need. If you will let me…”

Momo cupped her cheeks and planted a kiss on Sana’s forehead, keeping her lips there.

"I’ll try my best to make you happy anyway if you will let me.”

Taking Sana by an hand and the rose in the other, Momo got close to the christmas tree. She put it on a branch by the little tie on the back.

“I think that what your mother meant when she said this rose only blooms in December is that, being a christmas decoration, you only see it when you put it on the Christmas tree. But I have my own interpretation of that line. Do you want to listen?”

The younger girl just nodded, biting her lip, just thinking and rethinking about Momo’s words.

“I only ever got to see you in December. We always spent your birthday together. Our bond became stronger and stronger with the passing time… it bloomed year after year. So it might sound really cheesy, bear with me, but I really think you’re my rose who only bloomed in December.”

The rose fit so well on the tree, it seemed like having been made for that very tree and no one else. Sana wished she was like that rose, meant for Momo and Momo only, instead of being left in a limbo because the universe decided so.

She tugged at Momo’s sleeve, her lips quavering. Sana was so moved by the older’s words that remained speechless. No word could ever express the gratitude she felt towards her precious friend.

Gesturing to Momo to follow her to the middle of the room, Sana hid her face again into her shoulder, arms sliding around the older’s waist. The latter wrapped herself around her, trying to convey all her feelings into that simple gesture.

"Dance with me? Like we used to as kids?” Sana asked, her voice so small that Momo barely heard her. Momo, obviously, obliged.

There was no music. They didn’t need it. They just stayed close, dancing slowly around the spot, feeling each other’s presence. It was enough. The silent agreement between them was made. Living that moment as if they were star crossed lovers.

Momo’s heartbeat still thundered in her ears. They stayed like that for a few minutes, their breathing the only audible sound along with the cruel ticking that beat the time. _23:46, 23:52, 23:57._

Sana’s eyes drifted to the clock, her body stopped moving.

“I feel like Cinderella. Fearing the midnight and the magic’s end.” 

Her forehead touched Momo’s, who cupped Sana’s cheeks again.

"Magic doesn’t have necessarily to end.” Momo said firmly. “There are no crystal shoes around and no pumpkin carriage.”

"Yes, but there’s a time limit.”

"It was then that Sana wrapped her arms around Momo’s neck. Electricity ran intensely between them. It was hard not to fall in temptation. They didn’t know how they could even manage to not do something reckless.

“Hey.” Momo called shyly. “Is it stupid if I say this?”

“Say what?”

“That I love you. I mean, the real you, not some ghost from my mind.”

Sana blushed heavily. Those were simple words, but it was the most heartfelt confession she had ever received anyway. She could feel it from the way Momo shivered under her touch while talking. By the light in her eyes.

“No, it’s not stupid.” She replied, brushing the tip of her beloved’s neck. “Actually… I am the stupid here.

Against every prevision, Sana kissed Momo’s lips, feeling her almost jump from her grip, tense up, and then relax. It was a simple, gentle kiss, that fit well the melancholic mood. Another one followed suit, and then another, and then another. Sana wanted to shower Momo with everything she couldn’t give her until now.

“I don’t think I need a stupid mark to love you.” She almost shouted to encourage herself when midnight knocked on the door. Then her mood twisted and she became desperate, restless, and Momo was there for her, catching that spark that was about to set the both them on fire. Was it reckless? Yes. Was it a mistake? Maybe. But they couldn’t give really a damn in the heat of the moment.

While the kisses became more and more quick, as if time was against them, Sana started to feel an itchy sensation on the right side of her neck, that rapidly started to burn like fire. She winced and whined, not understanding what was happening, bringing an hand right up on it.

"Ouch… what’s…”

And Momo understood right away what was happening.

"Sana! Sana, let me see!”

"Inklike ideograms had appeared on Sana’s skin, and the older girl almost screamed.

_もも_

_Momo_

* * *

Momo couldn’t remember having ever slept so well. Her eyes popped open but she closed them right away, slowing her breath. It was a beautiful morning…

_Wait._

Momo bolted up, a sudden rush of fear running through her veins.

_What if it was just a dream?_

Then, Sana’s hand crept up on her arm.

_Uh...no._

“Momoring, what’s up…? Come back to sleep.” Sana’s drowsy voice ordered, making Momo smile shyly. The latter laid back, shuffling closer to her now favorite girl, who pulled her even closer.

“I forgot to wish you an happy birthday tonight.” Momo whispered hoarsely, tracing the tip of her fingers on Sana’s neck for a very specific reason.

“It is already an happy birthday. But thanks.” Sana giggled, putting an hand over Momo’s. “Considering we don’t have really talked after midnight, you’re forgiven.”

Momo blushed terribly, hiding her face on Sana’s chest.

“Was it a mistake? I mean… we just…”

“Uhm. Hello?” Sana huffed, raising her eyes. “How many times can someone kiss a soulmark and still not get the hint?”

“Yeah sorry, you’re right. But having some doubts is legit, I think.”

"Momo, you don’t have to worry about anything. I’m not going to vanish again. It’s a promise.”

Right when the both of them leaned in for another kiss Momo’s phone started to buzz.

“The timing…” She huffed, rolling over to take it from her nightstand. “Oh, it’s Mina.”

“Your best friend?”

"Yep.”

Momo lazily picked up.

“Good morning Minarin. Need anything?”

_"Hi. Just wanted to know how you’re doing. You’ve not been really well the past days, so…”_

“Hmm… I’m doing really fine, thanks. How about you? Did you bring Chaeng to that art exhibition you’ve been telling me?”

"Hello! I am Sana, nice to meet you!” Sana shouted into the mic, startling Momo - and probably Mina too - to death and almost making the former drop the phone.

_"Uh? Sana? Wait… THAT Sana?”_

“I… I will explain everything later. Yes, It’s that Sana. My soulmate.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, thanks for reading and I hope you liked this story. Let me know what you think and for throwing me tomatoes or whatever comes to your minds follow me on my twt if you want ~ @neonkuro_


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